{"id":4288,"date":"2019-06-20T21:20:58","date_gmt":"2019-06-21T02:20:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.anislandmom.com\/?p=4288"},"modified":"2019-06-20T22:07:27","modified_gmt":"2019-06-21T03:07:27","slug":"the-9th-annual-summer-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.anislandmom.com\/?p=4288","title":{"rendered":"The 9th Annual Summer List"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Well, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m happy to have an exciting update on my\nattempt to complete one of the items on last year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Annual Summer List.\nSuggestion #4 was to read a book you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve \u00e2\u20ac\u0153spent your whole life avoiding\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and\neven \u00e2\u20ac\u0153cringing at.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I mentioned that mine was Moby Dick.<\/em> This choice, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, was not without cause: After making\nit official to the universe one year ago, I am still only 40% of the way,\naccording to Kindle, through the novel. Here I am, living my best life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In truth, I was going to try to quickly finish it this\nmonth before I posted so I could say I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve completed it, but alas, other things\ngot in the way, like all the things. In my defense, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been on a memoir binge\nthe last few weeks, and have plowed through: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tobias Wolff\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\nThis Boy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Life<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicole Chung\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\nAll You Can Ever Know<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roxane Gay\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\nHunger<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tara\nWestover\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Educated<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dani Shapiro\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\nInheritance<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

as well as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karen\nRussell\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story collection Orange World<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

John\nWilliams\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s novel Stoner<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Celeste Ng\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s novel Little Fires Everywhere<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Graham Greene\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s novel The End of the Affair<\/em> (technically a reread, still totally counts)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still very much practicing literacy. Just not so\nmuch with Moby Dick<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got that off my chest, here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the Ninth Annual Summer List, just in time for the summer solstice and the official start of the season. \u00c2\u00a0As I have before, I asked Baby-Girl to help with creating the list. While she brainstormed, I transcribed her ideas. They went like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Eat breakfast for dinner, eat dinner for lunch, and eat lunch for breakfast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve added things very similar to this\nbefore, but as Baby-Girl pointed out, in millennial fashion, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fine.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Have a potato salad day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s potato salad day?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I asked. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You know, you\njust eat potato salad all day. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just all you eat.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I sense this will be\nless popular with some folks. Like, for instance, the folks that don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like\npotato salad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Have a fresh day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before you raise your eyebrows, she clarified with: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You\neat all fresh stuff, like cucumbers, broccoli, salads, and fruits like peaches,\nmangoes, and pineapple. I mean, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like pineapple but whatever. You can\neat smoothies, or anything fresh and great.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, she decided she was overdoing the food aspect of\nthe list. So she brainstormed for a minute and suggested this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Bike to a restaurant and eat breakfast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re still incorporating food pretty heavily in\nthis idea,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yeah,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she acknowledged, but then decided that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s okay because\nyou\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re burning carbs with the biking.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I chose not to pursue her thoughts on\nthe person who consumes a carb-free breakfast. It would have gotten far too\ncomplicated for both of us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of my thoughts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

5. Make a contraption. I went on Pinterest last week and found all these cool contraptions for kids made out of PVC pipes. Some of them, for instance, were attached to hoses, and little holes in the PVC pipes allowed water to spray in various directions, creating backyard fountains and even structures that looked like small car washes for kids (rather than cars). The one pictured above is by inspiredhousewife.com<\/a>, who gives directions on parts needed and how to build this. I would like to be a person who someday makes one of these. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Host a tea party. This is one of those \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I might feel weird introducing this idea to my friends but it might be fun if I have the right kind of friends\u00e2\u20ac\u009d idea. In other words, make it what works best for you and your friends. If you want to wear sundresses and serve petit fours, go for it. If you want to wear jeans and serve wine in your tea cups, all the better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Make colored ice cubes and surprise your family with them at dinner or whip them out at a get-together. You could adjust the colors to go with themes: red and blue for the fourth, team colors on game day, the birthday person\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s favorite colors for a birthday party, etc. Sometimes, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the small things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. Waterproof (as best you can) a paper lantern (or twelve) and hang them in the trees around your house for the summer. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve always wanted to throw an evening party and decorate my yard this way but thought it would be a one-time deal since the lanterns are made out of paper. However, I got curious and researched this recently, and found that people have had some success with extending the life of their paper lanterns by applying a water-repellent or waterproof substance to the lantern\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s exterior. Sugarandcloth.com<\/a> explains how do this to a pre-made or a custom lantern using Mod Podge Outdoors and a foam brush. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. Upgrade your hammock. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve mentioned hammocks before. Right now I have a swing hammock, but I recently googled hammocks and found many more deluxe versions of the hammock available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Currently, I have my eye on this hammock from Macys<\/a>, which is half hammock, half portable bedroom. There is some awesome sleep and some even better daydreaming to be had in this. It is a pricey $2,000, which is why it helps to also consider it a bedroom of sorts. For you risk-takers out there, an alternative to purchasing one would be to try out a pricey hammock in the store for a few hours so you know which one you will buy if money someday starts falling from the sky. <\/em>This is what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s called the temporary upgrade that also helps prepare you to be an informed buyer in case<\/em>. It will be an advantage if you are or can make yourself look either elderly or like a brand-new parent. Just saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alternatively, for a quarter of the price, I also found an Enfield Hammacka Chair Hammock <\/a>to attach to the back of your truck. Basically, two hammock seats can swing from the back of a pick-up truck or convert into a single, full-length hammock. Imagine if they added seat belts and made these street-legal. If they did, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d love to take a long, slow drive down a drivable beach in one of these puppies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s my list, folks! For other ideas to help make the most of summer, check out the lists from 2011<\/a>, 2012<\/a>, 2013<\/a>, 2014<\/a>, 2015<\/a>, 2016<\/a>, 2017<\/a>, and 2018<\/a>. Happy, happy summer!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m happy to have an exciting update on my attempt to complete one of the items on last year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Annual Summer List. Suggestion #4 was to read a book you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve \u00e2\u20ac\u0153spent your whole life avoiding\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and even \u00e2\u20ac\u0153cringing at.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I mentioned that mine was Moby Dick. This choice, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, was not without cause: After […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1747,319,2334,318],"class_list":["post-4288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-islandlife","tag-making-the-most-of-summer","tag-summer-fun","tag-summer-ideas","tag-summer-lists"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.anislandmom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.anislandmom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.anislandmom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.anislandmom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.anislandmom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.anislandmom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4288\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.anislandmom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.anislandmom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.anislandmom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.anislandmom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}